BR Life : A new dawn in the healthcare industry of India

This is the amazing journey of a man who decided to carve his footprints in the sands of time… literally and figuratively. It was a tough expedition because land was hitherto an unexplored destination and the risks the lone ranger took were unprecedented. But like all great men, he threw the fear of failure to the winds and never gave up till he succeeded.

This is the incredible story of a man who had the strength of the belief that he would succeed in an unknown land and also bring back that success back to his homeland.

Dr Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty was a clinical pharmacy graduate who served as the Vice-Chairman of the

Municipal Council in the small town of Udupi in Karnataka, India. He moved to the UAE in 1973 as he was in dire need of money to fund his sister’s wedding. In UAE, he became the country’s first medical representative working for a stockist, peddling products like Nivea, Glucose and Gripe Water. This was an excruciating task because of the heat and almost non-existent roads in the region back then. But this also served as an inspiration to start his first venture, when Dr Shetty noticed the poor state of clinics and medical care in the UAE.

In 1975, he set up the now famous New Medical Centre (NMC), a pharmacy cum diagnostic clinic chain. It also helped that Dr Shetty married a doctor, Mrs Chandrakumari Shetty. In partnership with her, he set up a full-fledged hospital in the region. This marked the beginning of his career as a serial entrepreneur and also paved the path for his dream of giving back to his motherland later. Today, NMC is the UAE’s largest private healthcare provider and is the first healthcare company from the region to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The visionary that he is, Dr Shetty realised that providing good quality medical care is only one component of the development wheel of a country. So, he went on to set up the UAE exchange, which would help Indian immigrants send money back home easily. Prior to this, they were struggling in long queues outside banks on holidays. Now the UAE exchange has 750 branches in 32 countries and now transacts over million dollars every day!

Varied businesses in his armour

Dr Shetty is not the kind of man to rest on his laurels. As he establishes and stabilises one business, he is on the lookout for his next venture, which has to be an exciting and challenging one. This explains why BRS Ventures, a holding company, owned by Dr Shetty, provides innovative solutions across a wide range of business interests. Notable among them are healthcare, financial services (unimoni), pharmaceuticals, education, hospitality and environment.

The company is not only a well-known premium blue chip business group in the UAE, but also has a significant global presence through strong partnerships and multiple acquisitions.

Apart from these major ventures, Dr Shettyhas interests in areas like laundromats, consumer products and hotels. He also runs a school chain, a maintenance company and a manpower company for the petroleum industry. All of them have achieved stupendous success.

Serving the homeland

BR Life, a healthcare services brand owned and initiated by Dr BR Shetty, owns superspecialty healthcare facilities in India, Nepal, Egypt and Afghanistan. The company stands on the strong principle of giving back to the home country.

Dr Shetty, who is now all set to serve his homeland with ventures in healthcare, education, banking & finance feels that a large part of India’s population still is bereft of quality tertiary medical care which is readily accessible and affordable.

BR Life is headquartered in Bengaluru and plans to have presence across India and the Indian sub-continent soon by operating either completely owned Greenfield initiatives or Brownfield initiative under O&M model.

At present, BR Life operates 4-hospitals in India—BR Life SSNMC Superspecialty Hospital (400 Beds) in Bangalore, BR Life Kalinga Superspecialty Hospital (230 Beds) in Bhubaneshwar, BR Life SUT Pattom Superspecialty Hospital (210 Beds) in Trivandrum, BRS Mother and Child Hospital (200 Beds) in Udupi. BR Life also has recently acquired 2-hospitals in Afghanistan and in the process of acquiring a few more in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Dr Shetty’s strong sense of philanthropy and community service has prompted him to take over an existing government hospital for mother and child in Udupi. He has constructed a new 200-bed hospital in the same premises, which offers completely free top class medical care to the underprivileged people of the region.

Currently, the group operates and manages about 1,500 beds and it plans to create a strong network of hospitals in Indian and the Indian subcontinent. BR Life has invested significantly since 2012 and is looking at additional investment to attain a critical mass of around 3,000 beds over the next two-three years; the long-term plan over the next decade or so is to have over 20,000 – 25,000 beds. This large-scale expansion plan has been motivated by the fact that India needs an additional 1.8 million beds by 2025.Dr Shetty is extremely determined to help the country reach the figure.

Ethics and safety have always been the underlying guiding philosophies for BR Life as it focuses on areas like accurate diagnosis, scientific treatment and precise delivery of healthcare services. The company also strongly believes in scientific cost accounting, standardization of procedures, proper training, and alignment with medical and non-medical professionals. These are the areas that BR Life is working on to develop the healthcare industry and enable better patient , comfort and satisfaction and in the process deliver best in care and class clinical therapy.

Rising son:

Guided by his father’s experience and expertise in business and powered by the spirit of the current generation,

Binay Raghuram ShettyVice Chairman and CEO, BRS Ventures

Mr Binay Shetty is now ready to take on his father’s mantle. He has worked with different entities of BRS Ventures for more than a decade and is now the Vice Chairman and CEO of BRS Ventures. His areas of expertise are strategic planning and corporate governance.

Mr Binay Shetty graduated from Boston University, Massachusetts, USA, with a specialization in finance and entrepreneurship. Like his father, Binay is also a keen participant in various social, philanthropic and community activities.

Binay is determined to tread the path that his father has taken for success—a relentless pursuit of commitment through a disciplined and ethical approach to business.

Current Facilities

BR Life Group of Hospitals currently operates in the following locations in India Bangalore (SSNMC Superspecialty Hospital), Trivandrum (SUT Pattom Superspecialty Hospital and Bhubaneswar (Kalinga Superspecialty Hospital) with the flagship hospital being the one at Bangalore namely BR Life SSNMC Superspecialty Hospital.

BR Life SSNMC Superspecialty Hospital:-

The flagship hospital of BR Life Group of Hospitals, this is a ultramodern 400 bed plus state of the art facility providing advanced, accessible and affordable worldclass healthcare. The hospital, like a true multi superspecialty tertiary to quaternary care facility, has multiple Centres of Clinical Excellence (COCEs) which offers the best in care and class medical care.

These Centers of Clinical Excellence includes the following:-

Cardiac Sciences Center of Clinical Excellence

Orthopedic Center of Clinical Excellence

Neuro Sciences Center of Clinical Excellence

Gastroenterology Center of Clinical Excellence

Oncosciences Center of Clinical Excellence

In the pipeline and very shortly the following clinical excellence centers will be added:-

Hemato- Onco Sciences Center of Clinical Excellence

Blood Related Disorders

Bone Marrow Transplant

Multiorgan Transplant Center of Clinical Excellence

Liver Transplant

Kidney Transplant

Pancreas Transplant

Infertility & Assisted Reproduction Center of Clinical Excellence

All these centers of excellences are led by some of the finest and renowned clinical experts having worldwide experience in delivering the best in care and class clinical outcomes for patients. Besides the center of excellences, SSNMC Superspecialty Hospital also boasts of a number of disease specific clinics like:-

Spine Care Clinic

Heart Care Clinic

Bone & Joint Clinic

Prostrate Care Clinic

Cardio Neuro Trauma Center

Stroke Clinic with dedicated Neuro ICU

Liver Disease Clinic with dedicated Hepatic ICU

BR Life SSNMC Superspecialty Hospital pride of place is its International Patient Services wherein a dedicated team of people ensures the best in care and class diagnosis and treatment for all patients who comes seeking relief and succour from their ailments. The International Patient Services has the following facilities for patient facilitation:-

24 x 7 Medical Enquiry Center

Complimentary Airport Transfers

Dedicated Lounge with Business Center

IT, FOREX and Travel Services & Counselling

24 x 7 Language Interpreter / Translation Services

Dedicated Apartment Accommodation with Self Cook Facilities

As BR Life Group of Hospitals continues to strive forward on its ambitious journey of creating and providing a most advanced, accessible and affordable worldclass medical care to the people of the Indian subcontinent delivered upholding the ethos of BR Life Group i.e. “Caring and Healing with Compassion and Humaneness”, it seeks the support of the people it serves and the medical fraternity in this endeavor.

Dr B R Shetty: A name etched on the sands of time

Dr. Shetty is a serial entrepreneur, pillar of the community and social servant. A visionary leader, who follows his heart and intuition, he has explored untapped markets and paved new paths in his successful entrepreneurial journey in UAE. He started his innings in 1975 with the launch of New Medical Centre (NMC), the first private healthcare facility in UAE. His distinctive capabilities and foresight have transformed the healthcare industry in the region. His commitment to provide state-of-the-art facilities enabled NMC to be listed on the London Stock Exchange and included as a part of the coveted FTSE100 index. NMC has also been inducted into the exquisite club of MSCI Global Index.

The burgeoning expatriate population in UAE triggered the need for a formal and safe money transfer channel. Dr. Shetty sensed an opportunity in that challenge and ventured into the remittance sector by launching UAE Exchange; which is now a leading global remittance, foreign exchange and payment solutions brand. He identified an opportunity in currency exchange business and acquired Travelex, the world’s leading foreign exchange specialist. With this acquisition, he was successful in bringing two category leaders under a single umbrella. All these leading brands are now a part of the recently formed holding company – Finablr.

In a step towards backward integration into the healthcare sector, Dr. Shetty set-up Neopharma in 2003. Neopharma is a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and has collaborations with multinational companies like Pfizer, Merck, Abbot Laboratories, Hetero Pharmaceuticals and Biocon to name a few. Recently, Neopharma has acquired an antibiotic manufacturing facility in the USA.

Diversified business interests of Dr. Shetty, led him to open quality institutions in the education, hospitality, and environment sectors. He has recently acquired the Assam Tea Company in India.

As a part of the strategy to provide innovative solutions across varying verticals, Dr. Shetty has recently established BRS Ventures. The company has already earned itself the reputation as one of the leading and premium business groups in United Arab Emirates. The company has also established a global presence with successful acquisitions and strong partnerships.

With a belief of giving back to the country, Dr. Shetty has established a leading healthcare services brand – BR Life. Headquartered in Bengaluru, Dr. Shetty currently operates multi-specialty healthcare facilities in India, Nepal, Africa and Middle East. Seven Hills Hospitals, located in Mumbai and Visakhapatnam, are the latest additions to BR Life.

Dr. B. R. Shetty’s business accomplishments and exceptional social work have earned him the “Order of Abu Dhabi”, the highest civilian honour bestowed by the Government of Abu Dhabi. He is a recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri award, one of the highest civilian honors from the Government of India. The former President of India, late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam conferred upon him the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, for his outstanding contribution towards betterment of NRI community.

Binay Raghuram Shetty, Vice Chairman and CEO, BRS Ventures

As the Vice Chairman and CEO of BRS Ventures, Binay Shetty embodies the best qualities of a successful entrepreneur of this generation. Guided by his visionary father, Binay is poised to take the legacy forward. He brings strong expertise of having worked with the BRS Ventures’ entities for more than a decade.

Prior to his current responsibility, he held the position of Chief Operating Officer at NMC Health, a London Stock Exchange listed healthcare provider and part of the premium FTSE 100 Index responsible for Operations, HR, Marketing, IT and Projects. He was a Board Member of NMC Health Plc.

In addition to his current role, Binay also serves as the Executive Director of Finablr, a global platform for full service payments and foreign exchange underpinned by proprietary technology with network companies such as UAE Exchange, Unimoni, Travelex, Xpress Money, Ditto Bank. He is also the Director of UAE Exchange, a leading global remittance, foreign exchange and payment solutions company as well as Travelex, a global foreign exchange provider. He is also the Vice Chairman of Alexandria NMC, a healthcare group in Egypt and BR LIFE that operates multi-specialty healthcare facilities in India.

Binay is also a board member of the Indian Business & Professional Group (IBPG) Abu Dhabi, Center for Technology and Economic Development (CTED), a research center at New York University Abu Dhabi and UAE Genetic Diseases Association. He is also managing trustee of the Dr. BR and Dr. CR Shetty Foundation.

He has 14 years of experience with a focus on strategic planning and corporate governance. He is an active participant in various social and philanthropic initiatives as well as community activities.

Binay graduated from Boston University, Massachusetts, USA, with specialization in Finance and Entrepreneurship.

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